1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to tools for farriers, veterinarians and horse owners. More particularly, this invention relates to a stand for supporting a horse's hoof or foot for horseshoe removal, hoof trimming, horseshoe fitting, horseshoe installation and hoof maintenance.
2. Related Art
Most farriers physically support the horse's leg during shoeing operations by holding the horse's leg between their own legs, with the horse leg coming through the farrier's legs from the farrier's backside. This is a precarious, sometimes dangerous position and always a physically-demanding position. First, the farrier must remove the old horseshoe. Then the hoof must be trimmed and filed. Next, the new shoe must be fitted to the hoof profile and nailed in place. Finally, the nails are clinched and the anterior profile of the hoof is filed and shaped. All of these operations are best performed with the hoof supported at an elevation above ground level.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,216 for a Multiple Stand To Aid Shoeing Horses teaches a two-position tripod-type stand having a pair of alternating upright members disposed at a right angle with respect to one another. A pair of opposing legs are connected to the vertex joint of the uprights, each at a slightly obtuse angle with respect to both uprights. In one position, one upright extends vertically upward while the second upright acts as the third leg of the tripod. In the second position, the second upright extends vertically upward while the first upright acts as the third leg of the tripod. A hard hoof cradle is attached to the distal end of one of the uprights and a flat plate is attached to the distal end of the other upright. The cradle holds the hoof in an elevated generally horizontal position to provide access to the bottom of the hoof, while the flat plate provides an elevated platform to support the bottom of the hoof to provide convenient access to the anterior of the hoof. An optional upright with an anvil attachment can be removably substituted for either of the other two uprights.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,216 device has some disadvantages. First, the length of the uprights are not adjustable to accommodate the necessary difference in working height between front and back hooves of a single horse, nor to accommodate different-sized horses. Second, the hoof cradle construction does not provide any concussion absorption and is prone to the hoof dislodging from the cradle. Thirdly, the legs and horizontally extending upright (effectively a leg) pose a hazard both to the farrier and to the horse.
Blackburn (U.S. Pat. No. 89,379) discloses a rest for shoeing horses with a thick base and a hinged, v-shaped member upon which the horse hoof rests. The arms of the v-shaped member extend vertically upward, and one of the arms is hinged to pivot to the side when the weight of the hoof is placed on the v-shaped member. The Blackburn device includes an incremental ratchet adjustment to raise and lower the v-shaped member relative to the base. The inventor believes that prior art devices, such as the Blackburn device, would tend to have undesirable effects on a horse, including metallic sounds during height adjustment, of metal against metal, that would upset/frighten the animal. Because horses are usually nervous, easily-frightened animals that respond instinctually to noises and unfamiliar or uncomfortable movements according to the well-known “fear-flight” behavior. Further, the inventor believes that prior art devices, which include incremental raising or lowering a metal upright inside a metal receiver tube using a ratchet system, would tend to cause uneven and jerky motion and metallic sounds created by relative movement and contact of the metal upright and receiver tube. The inventor believes that pivoting/flexing arms or other moving parts would upset/frightened the animal, especially if the pivoting/flexing occurs in response to the weight of the animal's foot and if it causes the stand to “clamp” the foot/hoof.
What is needed is an adjustable-height, safer stand that more securely holds the hoof in the horizontal position. What is still needed is a stand that is less intimidating to both horses and users. What is needed is a light-weight and convenient stand that is comfortable and quiet, for non-stressful work with a horse's hoof and/or foot.